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Thursday, 18 August 1994

Inauguration - Chapter Twelve

Teddy sat, his delicate black nose tilted upwards, scenting the air. Jimmy and Tabby sat before him, washing themselves. “Any sign of them?” asked Jimmy languidly. Teddy nodded. “They appear to be climbing one of the Jefferies tubes.” “What do we do now?” asked Tabby. “Have you seen Toby?” asked the Collie. “I saw him heading towards the detention wing. I called but he took no notice.” “Captain Watt has the same problem with him. I dare say he knows what he’s doing. There may well be food involved.” The dog looked down at his smaller companions. “We find which tube and wait there. If you are approached by the enemy play the part of a dumb animal.”

Elsewhere in the detention wing Toby led Kira, Pendragon and a reluctant Dukat along. All had agreed not to mention the fact that they had been rescued by a dog to save Dukat’s ego, and Toby was quite happy about this. After all, dogs don’t tend to suffer from bruised feelings too long. As they passed one of the cells a voice called out to them. “Commander Pendragon, is that you?” Pendragon broke open the cell door to see Mrs. Troi and Deanna seated within. “I sensed your approach my darling.” said Mrs. Troi. Kira looked at the telepath with renewed interest. “Tell me Lwaxana.” she said. “Can you and Deanna trace any others?” “Captains Watt and Picard are just along the corridor with one of the McClouds.” said Deanna. “Ambassadors Mollari and G’Kar are in the next cell along. Kosh and Delenn in the one just past that.” “Can you contact Magus?” asked Dukat impatiently. “As easily as Toby rescued you.” smiled Mrs. Troi.

Magus and President Watt had just left the Jefferies tube to be greeted by one dog and two cats. Magus had given them instructions, the cats were to move around, trying to find out what they could. Toby was to be traced, this task was given to Teddy, who was well versed in the habits of his old friend. “I’ll try the kitchens first.” As the dog and cats left Magus was surprised to hear a voice in his head. “Good lord!” he said to Watt. “It’s Mrs. Troi!” “I thought the sensors could pick up when you used magic.” “Ah, but telepathy is not magic. All beings have limited telepathic ability, even you dear boy. Apparently she is with a small party in the detention wing, liberated initially by Toby. Teddy was wrong, he wasn’t in the kitchen.” “I don’t suppose Teddy is ever wrong.” replied Watt sarcastically. “Last time was 1978.” replied Magus. “How far are we from the detention cells?” “Babylon 5 is five miles long. We are at the opposite end. Do you want a lift?” “Lead on MacDuff!” replied the wizard. Watt was about to pick Magus up when the wizard suddenly grasped his head in pain. “What is it?” asked Watt. “Mrs. Troi and her party have just come under attack!” Magus replied. “A combined force of humans and Orks.” Magus’ expression changed. “It is too late. Some of them have been hurt by phaser fire. There were too many of them.” Watt grabbed Magus by his shoulders. “Are any of them dead? Are they okay?” Magus looked up at Watt. “I cannot tell. The only way I could is if I used my powers. If I did we would be detected.” Watt looked around. “As far as I can see we have only one choice. We have to find a way of disabling this station and the energy field that surrounds it. To do that we have to get to a power source.”

Outside the detention wing the combined force stood, phasers in hand. They looked back as Lieutenant Commander Chavez pushed his way through. The first thing he saw was the unconscious bodies of those who had tried to escape. “How did this happen?” he asked. “Who let them out?” One of the orks pointed to the two limp forms of Teddy and Toby. “Are you telling me that two dogs caused this?” said Chavez. “You must be kidding. Put them back in their cells, and I want two guards placed on each door.” The orks just seemed to stare at Chavez as the rebel officers started their work. “Well, what are you waiting for?” said Chavez. “Get moving!” As they started this task Dr. Fax came running into the corridor, medical kit in hand. Chavez stopped him. “Ops told me to come down here and check on the prisoners.” he said. “There were reports of phaser fire.” “There was Doctor.” said Chavez. “A wide dispersion phaser beam stunned all of those who tried to escape.” “You used a stun setting?” said Fax. “I hope it wasn’t maximum.” “It was. It was the only way we could stop them all at once.” Fax went to walk past Chavez, but he stopped him. “Where do you think you’re going?” asked Chavez coldly. “A maximum stun setting can cause lasting damage if left untreated.” said Fax. “Unless they receive medical attention they could die in forty-eight hours.” Chavez placed his hand on Fax’s chest and pushed him back. “There is no way I’m letting you look at them. They’ve caused enough trouble as it is.” “I have my orders. Captain Queeg told me to check them.” “Warchief Boglob told me to stop them, and that is what I have done. Boglob outranks Queeg in our alliance.” “Does Boglob realise that if they die Starfleet will try to take this station by force?” “My orders come from the top Doctor. They stay in their cells.” Fax stared at Chavez, “Boglob is making a big mistake.”

Captain Queeg and Alen the Seer marched down the corridor towards the debating chamber. They were both in happy moods. The escape attempt had been stopped before it had ever really started. They were on their way to give the news of their latest little triumph to Watt and Magus. Queeg was the first one to push the door open. “Well Mister President, it looks like your…” Queeg’s jaw dropped as he saw two empty chairs in front of them. Alen pushed past him. He was also shocked. “Where are they?” said Queeg. “They’ve escaped you fool.” said Alen. “Activate your communicator. Order a red alert. They must be re-captured.”

Watt and Magus walked slowly down a darkened corridor. Suddenly a loud beeping could be heard. It was heard all over the station. “Red alert! This is a red alert! President Watt and Ambassador Magus have escaped. They must be caught at all costs!” “It appears that we have been missed James.” said Magus. “That makes our task even more difficult.” said Watt. “I can’t remember the exact layout of this station. To get the plans we have to get to a terminal. With this station on red alert that is now almost impossible!”